ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Dementia Patients Particularly Vulnerable
Another Grave Risk: Anti-Psychotic Drugs
Horrifying news of physical abuse and overmedication of nursing home and assisted living facility residents continue to come in from all around the United State and California. In one recent report, facility staff routinely slapped, threatened and punched a number of dementia patients in a single facility over an extended period of time. [1] When physical force does not keep patients submissive, some homes resort to drugs. A recent study concluded that nursing homes administer unnecessary antipsychotic drugs to 179,000 patients every week. The Marin, San Francisco and California nursing home abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. understand what can go horribly wrong when a nursing home resident is overmedicated or otherwise abandoned, neglected or abused. We represent elderly victims of such abuse and our attorneys know how to investigate these cases and what remedies are available to the victims. If you or someone you know is suffering from nursing home abuse here in Marin, San Francisco or elsewhere in California, call the nursing home abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm today at 415-441-8669, and we can help.
Restraints, physical abuse and overmedication or administration of unnecessary anti-psychotic drugs are intentional. There are laws against physical restraints, physical elder abuse, and intentional overmedication, referred to legally as “chemical restraint.” See, e.g., Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.63. However, senior advocates say these laws are not enforced and often the overmedication is never detected or reported. The results can be fatal; some reports claim as many as 15,000 nursing home residents die each year due to un-prescribed antipsychotics. Much physical elder abuse goes undetected as well; dementia patients often do not even know what is happening to them.
If you have a loved one in a nursing home and notice abnormal changes in behavior, the reason could be physical abuse or overmedication. An overmedicated patient may become reclusive, confused or begin sleeping for long periods of time; they may also develop unexplained medical conditions. Overmedication and administration of inappropriate drugs are an illegal form of physical elder abuse. Calif. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.63(f). A physically abused patient may be too scared to talk or due to dementia unable to realize what has happened to them. You can stand up for your loved one in court and get them the justice they deserve. If you suspect this type of abuse, call us today at (415)441-8669.
Contact Us
If you or a loved one is or has been the victim of nursing home abuse in Marin or elsewhere in California, contact Ingrid M. Evans and the other nursing home abuse attorneys at the Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. We can help guide your case through a jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We handle cases involving physical and financial elder abuse, qui tam and whistleblower law, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
[1] Evans Law Firm, Inc. was not involved in the matter in any way.
